


Getting Closer

by Rothecooldad



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Claustrophobia, Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks, Team Building Exercise, i wrote this at 4am after not sleeping for 4 days #rip, lil j doesnt know how to handle emotions, lindsay is sick of their shit, maybe some humor but thats up for u to decide friendo, shes a scheming little schemer, tags??? what tags???, theyre just really gay for each other honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:29:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7996990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rothecooldad/pseuds/Rothecooldad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lil J has a lil problem with tight spaces and the full spectrum of the human emotion. Lindsay takes matters into her own hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting Closer

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters are based upon the internet personalities portrayed by members of Achievement Hunter and in no way are meant to reflect the lives of the actual person or persons themselves.

He was terrified of small spaces, and she knew. 

 

Lindsay had been very vocal with her delight at that fact, her laugh so loud it spiked the microphone and he winced as it reached him through his headphones. Jeremy felt bad for whichever one of them was going to have to edit this particular Let's Build.

 

“Linds…” he reprimanded her as he went to work fixing the blocks she misplaced in her laughter. He shook his head in exasperation. “It's not that funny. Claustrophobia isn't even that rare!”

 

“You're right! You're right. I'm sorry, Lil J.” she apologized as she calmed down, not sounding sorry at all. He rolled his eyes but let it slide, focusing on getting the correct color wool from the menu. 

 

“Besides,” Lindsay started a moment later, amusement apparent in her voice. “Hardly have to worry about small spaces, huh,  _ Lil  _ J? Finally your height is good for something!” 

 

Jeremy just groaned and slammed his forehead against the pop filter as Lindsay laughed louder than before. Matt and Kdin,  who had been busy arguing over redstone minutes before, joining her until he was surrounded by three different voices laughing in his ear. And he most definitely  _ wasn't  _ blushing, even if he was thankful for the lack of face cam, thank you very much. It wasn't  _ that  _ embarrassing.

 

“Aww, don't feel bad, Jerem.” Matt spoke up a minute later when he noticed Jeremy hadn't said anything. “We all have fears. It's perfectly fine.”

 

And Jeremy's heart absolutely did  _ not _ flutter at that, because he wasn’t a schoolgirl with a crush. He is a grown man. With a crush. That just so happened to be on his best friend and coworker who was trying to make him feel better. (And, alright, maybe he did blush at that one, but he can only be expected to handle so much without reacting, okay, he's still human.) 

 

“True. At least I'm not afraid of vegetables.” 

 

He also positively couldn't be blamed when his first reaction was to quickly respond with a cheap jab at Matt’s eating habits because he is a Grown Man with an unfortunate crush and a staggering incapability to express his emotions, dammit. Schoolyard bullying was as close to flirting as he knew how to get.

 

(And maybe he took great pleasure in Matt's character chasing after his own on the screen. And Matt screaming about how he's ‘ _ not afraid of vegetables okay he just has a healthy respect for them _ ’. And maybe Jeremy found that a little cute and was hiding a grin the entire time. Maybe.)

 

The point is, Lindsay  _ knew  _ that Jeremy plus enclosed spaces equals a  _ bad  _ time, and she  _ still  _ left him in here in some sort of attempt at revenge. For what, he doesn't know, but she's Lindsay and Lindsay doesn't need to have logic behind her actions.

 

When she asked him to help her carry some things from the storage room, he didn't think twice about  following her from their desks and down the hallway. 

 

However, when they reached the door and Jeremy stepped inside, the sound of the lock clicking closed and Lindsay giggling made him wish he had gone back and had that second thought. Perhaps even a third or fourth or however many thoughts it took to not have ended up in this situation because, fuck, it was cramped among the shelves and his pounding against the door was met with silence which means Lindsay actually  _ left him _ in there. Alone. 

 

He didn't even have his phone with him to call for help or even check the time to see how long he'd been in there (two minutes? Two hours? He had no concept of time but it felt like an eternity trapped amongst the boxes of merch), which isn't his fault because who fucking thinks their friend is going to lock them in a storage closet for  _ no fucking reason god dammit, Lindsay _ .

 

The panic was just setting in when he heard voices on the other side of the door. Lindsay and someone else, he couldn't tell who from the muffled words being spoken. Not that it mattered right now. All he cared about was the lock clicking back open and the handle turning. She must have come back for him, thank fucking Christ. He could yell at her later, after he  _ got the fuck out. _

 

He waited as the door cracked open, ready to bolt. It opened the rest of the way but instead of running, Jeremy was met with an armful of hair and limbs and the door,  _ the gloriously  _ **_briefly_ ** _ open door,  _ being slammed in his face, lock clicking into place once again. 

 

“What the fuck?!” Matt yelled, scrambling away from Jeremy.

 

“You two are not coming out of there until you talk about your very obvious and very gay feelings for each other. I'll be back to check on you assholes after lunch and you better make some fucking progress because I  _ will _ leave you here all night. Don't test me.” And with that final threat, to Jeremy's horror, Lindsay walked off.

 

Okay, so this wasn't some fucked up revenge plan for something he didn't even remember doing, like he originally assumed. This was  _ so much worse.  _ This was a misguided attempt at forced couples counseling and, Christ,  _ they weren't even a couple _ . 

 

There were many moments in his life that Jeremy regretted, most of them involving far too much alcohol and far too little common sense. So he wasn't exactly surprised that one of those moments would be the time he was over at Michael and Lindsay's house and got perhaps a bit too drunk and accidentally confessed to the couple how he felt about his stupid, scruffy best friend. Afterwards, when he was nursing a hangover in his own bed, he was mortified, but he never expected anything to come from his slip up except maybe some teasing because these were his friends and he could trust them not to say anything.

 

Now, as he looked over at Matt  staring wide eyed back at him, his heart pounding and his head dizzy from adrenaline and fear, yeah. Jeremy fucking regretted ever opening his big mouth.

 

“What the fuck.” Matt said again, less a question and more an expression of how absolutely fucked they were. Jeremy rather agreed with the sentiment.

 

Jeremy went to take a step forward, fully intending to make enough noise until  _ somebody  _ came to their aid, but staggered sideways, grabbing a shelf near him to steady himself. He saw the corners of Matt's lips turn downwards into a concerned frown.

 

“Are you alright?” Matt asked softly, furrowing his brows as he watched Jeremy try to stay upright.

 

Jeremy looked up from where he was concentrating on his grip and opened his mouth ready to answer, tell Matt he was _ fine.  _ And abruptly closed his mouth again when nothing came out but a harsh, stuttering breath. He realized how labored his breathing was, how his chest felt tighter after each inhale, how little air he was actually getting before he let out an even quicker exhale. He was shaking and the edge of his vision was getting blurrier and darker and  _ wow no when did the walls get closer oh fuck. _

 

The last thing Jeremy  was aware of before losing consciousness, hitting the ground with a dull thud that he was sure he would be feeling later  _ if he fucking survived, _ was Matt dropping to his knees next to him and a hand passing over his forehead.

 

***

 

“Jeremy, you tiny fuck, come  _ on.”  _  Jeremy wished the voice would just  _ fuck off _ and let him sleep, the pounding in his head causing him to screw his eyes shut even tighter, willing it to stop.

 

“When we get out of here, I'm gonna fucking murder Lindsay.” the voice muttered near his ear, and Jeremy could feel fingers carding through his short hair as his body was jostled until he was leaning against something solid and warm. It felt nice so he felt no need to wake up yet, letting the darkness pull him back in, only to be dragged back out when arms wrapped around him tightly.

“Come on, shithead, wake  _ up.”  _ That voice sounded suspiciously like his best friend. Jeremy's eyes snapped open as he remembered where he was. Right. Okay. So that was definitely Matt who was speaking and that was  _ definitely _ Matt who has his arms wrapped around Jeremy's torso. Huh. That's… Something.

 

Matt, noticing Jeremy was now awake, tightened his hold and buried his face in the top of Jeremy's hair, whispering, “thank _ fuck,” _ just loud enough to be understood.

 

Jeremy, thoroughly confused, just let out a strangled, “uh.” He didn't bother moving away; Matt could be like an octopus when he wanted to be, not that Jeremy much minded his current position. It helped distract him from the fact that they were still trapped in that goddamn storage closet  _ seriously, Lindsay, what the actual fuck. _

 

“Don't ever fucking do that again, okay? Prick.” 

 

Jeremy turned his head slightly so he could see Matt's face. What he saw made his heart do a somersault in his chest, and he blinked slowly.

 

“I'm… Sorry?” Jeremy said, unsure of what else to say.

 

“You should be, you asshole! I was scared!” 

 

“Wow, Matt, if I didn't know better, I'd say you actually cared about me.” He went for joking, but it fell a bit flat so he forced out a chuckle, not meeting Matt's eyes.

 

Matt turned Jeremy around so he was looking right at him, face serious.

 

“That's because I do. Care about you, that is. Have for a while but thanks for noticing there, Buddy.”

 

That probably shouldn't have been as shocking to Jeremy as it was, but he  _ had _ just woken up from an anxiety induced fainting spell to his best friend and crush essentially cuddling him, so he could be forgiven for taking an embarrassingly long time to respond. 

 

And, yeah, okay, now that he was actually thinking about it, the signs were probably all there and Jeremy was just too stupid to notice. Still, he had to be completely sure he wasn't going to fuck this up.

 

“No homo,though,  right?” Jeremy asked, giving Matt an out if he wanted one.

 

“Actually, I was thinking more full homo, but if you wanted the diet homo, I can check in the back.” Matt grinned at the fond exasperation on Jeremy's face.

 

“I hate you.” Jeremy mumbled, pulling Matt into a hug.

“No you don't.” And lips were on his.

 

He smiled into the kiss, pulling back just enough to whisper, “No. I don't.” against Matt's lips.

 

***

 

When the door opened again, thirty minutes later, Lindsay came face to face with two men with messy hair and bruised lips and looking way happier than any two men who had been trapped in a storage closet for the better part of an hour had any right to be.

 

“Fucking finally.” she told them, letting the two walk passed her. Jeremy turned to her and pointed a finger accusingly.

 

“You and I are going to have a  _ long  _ talk about secrets and boundaries and using phobias against people.  _ Later. _ Because right now, I have to take my boyfriend home.” He grabbed Matt's hands and began matching off.

  
“Use protection!” Lindsay called after them, laughing. Matt saluted over his shoulder, winking at her.

**Author's Note:**

> first time writing for rtah or even rpf in general so please be kind  
> i havent finished a fic since 2014 so this was An Experience
> 
> these nerds are too much for me


End file.
